The present invention relates generally to spray cleaning devices. More particularly the invention related to an adjustable spray nozzle apparatus adapted to a wand for conveniently spraying all surface of a vehicle including its underside.
There are many devices which utilize water or other liquids to clean or rinse an object, including the well known water wand which dispenses water under high pressure to spray deposits such as dirt and salt from vehicles. The high pressure aids in removing the deposits that would not ordinarily be removed by the pressure provided by domestic water supplies.
Previously, the removal of deposits from areas such as the underside of a vehicle, or any other object, posed difficulties. It is awkward to thoroughly clean the underside of vehicle with a garden hose or conventional water wand due to the fact that the angle of the spray is not easily changed except by substituting a custom wand. If one attempts to use a conventional wand, it is difficult to effect an upward spray orientation except to crouch down to the wet ground. Others have attempted to address this problem. A number of devices have been developed for directing a spray of liquid underneath the underbody of a vehicle while allowing the user of the device to remain standing upright.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,640 to Merritts describes a water spraying device for cleaning the underside of an automobile. Although this device allows a user to stand upright while directing a spray of water under the automobile a user is required to change to a different device or conventional wand to clean the remaining upper and side portions of the vehicle.
Application of a multiplicity of wands have disadvantages including: increased capital and maintenance costs, inconvenience to the user, danger in switching pressurized components and eventual loss of components.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,014 to Chan et al., an apparatus is disclosed which allows the operator to adjust the spray angle of a spray cleaning device. Chan teaches a water cleaning apparatus wherein a plurality of jets are angularly adjustable such that the device may be directed upwardly to clean the underside of a vehicle or laterally to clean the surface itself (e.g. a driveway). However, the spray device described by Chan is heavy and is mounted on a frame having supporting wheels and thus is not readily manipulated by hand nor is it convenient to clean the remainder of the vehicle.
Ideally, a device designed to conveniently clean a vehicle, including the side, the underside and even various other areas including the engine, would enable the spray device to be hand manipulated with some flexibility in selecting the direction of the spray nozzle.
In one preferred embodiment, the adjustable spray apparatus comprises a tubular housing, a flexible hose having a source end mounted to the housing and a nozzle end, a sleeve fitted over top of the housing and moveable relative thereto, and a tensile connector extending between the hose""s nozzle and the moveable sleeve. The hose has a normally linear straight position and is capable of bending to a plurality of flexed positions. The housing is adapted for connecting to the wand of a conventional spray washer so as to direct the high pressure liquid source from the wand into the hose. A spray nozzle is fitted to the nozzle end of the hose. Movement of the sleeve results in a flexing of the hose.
When the sleeve is moved back by manual manipulation the tensile connector exerts a pulling force on the nozzle end and the hose is bent into a flexed position. The resistive resilience of the hose causes it to return to the normally linear straight position when released. Preferably, the sleeve has a plurality of helical slots which co-operate with a bolt in the housing so as to incrementally lock the sleeve, and thereby the hose, into a number of predetermined positions.
Therefore in a broad apparatus aspect of the invention, the adjustable spray nozzle comprises a flexible hose adapted at one end to connect to a high pressure source of liquid and at the other end to a spray nozzle. The flexible hose has a normally straight position and is capable of bending to a plurality of flexed positions. A tensile connector, having a length sufficient to extend from one end of the hose to the other, is attached at the nozzle end of the hose. The tensile connector is adjustable so as to alternately draw the nozzle end towards or away from the source end and thereby changing the angle of the spray exiting the spray nozzle relative to the high pressure source.
The described apparatus enables the implementation of novel methods for the spray cleaning of an object while selecting the direction of the spray nozzle comprising: providing a flexible hose having a source end adapted for connection to a source of pressurized liquid and having a nozzle end adapted for connection to a spray nozzle for dispensing the pressurized liquid and providing a tensile connector connected to the nozzle end; adjusting the tensile connector so as to alternately draw the nozzle end towards or away from the source end for flexing the hose to at least one of the one or more flexed positions or the normally straight position.